Blackjack to Kill

Originally Aired: December 10, 1951 Suspense #451, "Blackjack to Kill," presents the chilling story of Johnny Damon, a cold-blooded assassin who makes his living killing on contract. When crime boss Moyer deals the high card to Johnny among five hired guns, Johnny wins a lucrative job: travel to Havana and eliminate a target for ten thousand dollars up front, with another fifteen waiting when he returns. The assignment takes an intriguing turn when Johnny meets his employer, Jose Deonte, a wealthy Cuban businessman who reveals the target: Penny Cullen, a deported American gangster who has fled to Cuba and is now trying to muscle in on Deonte's operations. For Johnny, this becomes personal - Penny Cullen is a man from his past, someone he once fingered and had deported, and someone he deeply hates. Johnny accepts the job with cold professionalism, employing the methodical approach Penny himself once taught him. He spends three days observing Cullen's routine through binoculars, watching as the exiled crime boss sits on the same bench each evening at six o'clock, feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons and gazing out over the Havana waterfront. As Johnny meticulously notes every detail of Penny's habits, the stage is set for a fourth day when the hunter will strike.